The first time I tasted real Bronte pistachio in Gràcia, I realised I had been eating industrial ice cream my whole life. It was not green. It was a muted greenish-brown, almost ugly, and it tasted of actual pistachio rather than caramel with colouring.
That day I learned the trick I have used ever since. It comes before the shops, because telling real artisan from disguised industrial is a skill for life.
The basics of good ice cream
The trick if the pistachio is radioactive green, it is colouring · Good sign kept covered in pozzetti, not in mounds · Another tell good ice cream does not leave you thirsty
Price 3-4.50 € a scoop · Area Gràcia and the Eixample hold the best
Plenty of tourist-area shops sell air-inflated, coloured ice cream at artisan prices, so it pays to know how to look before you pay.
Genuinely artisan
- The pistachio is greenish-brown, not bright
- The colours are muted and matte
- No thirst afterwards
- Kept covered in pozzetti
- Says made daily, or you can see the workshop
Disguised industrial
- Fluorescent green pistachio
- Radioactive-coloured strawberry or mango
- Thirst the moment you finish
- Tall mounds exposed to the air
- Twenty flavours identical in texture
An Italian gelato maker taught me the pistachio rule and it never fails: natural pistachio is muted, almost ugly, because it has no colouring.
Not every neighbourhood delivers equally when I want good ice cream.
Gràcia is where I hit it right blind, and La Rambla where I least do, with two exceptions I save for the end.
The shop I send everyone to
DelaCrem, at Enric Granados, 15, in the Eixample. It is the most loved by locals, and rightly so.
Italian master gelato maker Massimo Pignata founded it in 2010 with fully natural ingredients, fresh daily, gluten-free across every flavour and vegan sorbets, with an ultra-creamy texture from its slow-food technique. Everything is kept in pozzetti. The only catch is the summer queue, but it moves fast.
It has several branches, including the Obrador DelaCrem at Passeig de Sant Joan, 59, with classics like pistachio and yoghurt alongside editions using Reus hazelnuts or Les Garrigues pistachios. Do not leave without its affogato, which is what I always order, and it pairs with a good neighbourhood coffee nearby.
With the signs clear and one safe bet, the rest is choosing by what you fancy that day.
| What you want | The shop | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| The reliable classic | DelaCrem | Gluten-free, perfect pistachio |
| Flavours you have never tried | Paral·lelo | Black sesame, black garlic, mojito |
| The best pistachio | Gocce di Latte | Pistachio cremino, di Bronte DOP |
| Genuinely healthy, vegan and organic | Bodevici | Certified organic, sugar-free |
| Haute cuisine in ice cream | Gelato Collection | By Albert Adrià, numbered recipes |
| Nostalgia and horchata | La Valenciana | Since 1910, Valencia tiger nut |
Neighbourhood ice cream in Gràcia, no showing off
Gràcia is the neighbourhood with the most good ice cream per square metre, and where locals buy.
Paral·lelo, at Carrer de Sèneca, 18, is an absolute favourite of mine and, for many, simply another league. It is the story of four childhood friends, Matteo, Gianluca, Marco and Francesco, who left their native San Remo for Barcelona. They make everything in their workshop with seasonal, organic, local produce where they can, using Lleida pistachios and Reus hazelnuts. They use no finished ingredient, not even the hazelnut paste.
And there lies what makes them unique: flavours you will find nowhere else. Coconut stracciatella, black sesame, melon with mint, and savoury ice creams for dressing summer dishes. The menu changes daily, so each visit differs and not everything is always in. That surprise is part of the fun, and it sits well after a wander round the neighbourhood bodegas.
The best pistachio, in the Born
If you are a pistachio person like me, go straight to Gocce di Latte, at Pla de Palau, 4, in the Born, with two adjoining branches. Daily production, artisan, low in fat, two streets from the layers of city beneath your feet.
Its jewel is the pistachio cremino, mascarpone with pistachio cream, which more than one person defends as the best ice cream they have had. For serious fans there are the di Bronte DOP pistachio, that hard-to-find Sicilian one, and a milanese flavour they only make at weekends. The price is a little higher and worth it.
The vegan and sugar-free that does not taste like a substitute
Bodevici, at Torrijos, 21, in Gràcia, is the answer, and it is not marketing: it was Barcelona’s first certified organic ice cream shop, founded in 2011.
Organic, local ingredients, no additives, with vegan, gluten-free and no-added-sugar options. Its Lleida pistachio and Tarragona peach granita are addictive, and its vegan ice creams are among the few that do not taste like a substitute.
At DelaCrem every flavour is gluten-free and the sorbets vegan, and at any artisan shop fruit sorbets are vegan by nature. You only have to ask.
The chef-led ones, for a surprise
Gelato Collection, at La Rambla, 136, is the project of chef Albert Adrià with pastry chef Alfredo Machado and Torrons Vicens, in the space adjoining the nougat shop. It opened in summer 2024 with numbered recipes across four families: classics, cocktail-based ones like margarita or negroni, chef’s creations, and seasonal. It is not an ice cream shop, it is an experience.
Gelaaati di Marco, at Llibreteria, 7, in the Gòtic, belongs to Milanese Marco Di Consiglio and is a favourite of none other than Jordi Roca. Every flavour has zero preservatives and zero colouring. Its Placer Picante, chocolate with cayenne pepper, has a well-earned reputation.
Cremeria Toscana, at Muntaner, 161, open since 2004 under Milanese Andrea Giuntoli, is so good that several city restaurants use its ice creams for their desserts. Its vanilla is among the best I have tried.
The ones open for over a century
Barcelona has ice cream shops that are living heritage.
La Valenciana, in the Eixample, has run since 1910, now in its fourth generation, making artisan horchata with D.O. Valencia tiger nut and traditional Valencian ice creams. And El Tío Che, in Poblenou, is another institution of over a century, famous for its horchata and its lifelong biscuit cones, near the markets where I shop.
If you like traditional flavours without experiments, these are your places.
From 1910 horchata to 2024 chef’s ice cream, the city has never stopped making good ice cream.
The other thing I always say is to order what is in season, and for that it helps to know which fruit is at its best each month.
In July, with Tarragona peach or apricot on the menu, go for that: it is when the fruit peaks and the sorbet shows it.
3 places I do not go to, and why
The tourist-area stalls with mounds of fluorescent colour. That ice cream is inflated with air and colouring, on show to look pretty, and costs more than a good neighbourhood one.
Any that will not say where the produce comes from. Good pistachio is expensive and gets advertised. Silence usually means colouring.
The ice cream that leaves you thirsty. If you reach for water afterwards, it was excess sugar and additives. No two ways about it.
The exception I do recommend right on La Rambla is Rocambolesc, Jordi Roca’s ice cream shop, with its panets, warm brioches filled with cold ice cream. It is one of the few things on La Rambla genuinely worth it.
4 ways to choose well
Ask what is in season. The good ones change the menu with the fruit, and summer is where the best of it sits.
Try the brioche. Many Italian shops serve the ice cream inside a warm brioche. It is how Sicily eats it, hot and cold at once, and it sounds odd until you try it.
Watch the production. Made daily, or a visible workshop, is a good sign. Artisan ice cream does not last weeks, so it is made in small batches.
Check the pistachio before ordering. It is the fastest tell, and it decides in two seconds whether the rest of the case is worth it.
The best ice cream in Barcelona is not on La Rambla. It is on some neighbourhood corner where locals queue.
Know an artisan ice cream shop missing from this list? I am bound to be missing a neighbourhood gem. Message me on Instagram @barcelonainspira and I will go and try it.
Keep exploring Barcelona with me
More corners and plans I write about here: the best ramen in the city, where to eat calçots, and the full run of gastronomy, plans and experiences.
Which is the best artisan ice cream shop in Barcelona
There is real quality around, but my favourites are DelaCrem in the Eixample, Paral·lelo in Gràcia and Gocce di Latte in the Born. DelaCrem is among the most loved by locals, almost always with a queue, and its pistachio is the acid test. Paral·lelo is another league for many, thanks to its impossible flavours.
How can you tell if ice cream is genuinely artisan
The pistachio should not be radioactive green, because that is colouring, and the colours in general should be muted and natural. Good artisan ice cream does not leave you thirsty afterwards. And the best places keep it covered in pozzetti, not in mounds exposed to the air, the way it is done in Italy.
How much does artisan ice cream cost in Barcelona
A scoop costs between 3 and 4.50 euros, and a two-scoop cone runs 4.50 to 6 euros. Premium places like Gocce di Latte or the chef-led ones charge a little more, but the quality justifies it. Many offer the ice-cream-filled brioche, a Sicilian classic, for a similar price.
Which Barcelona neighbourhood has the best ice cream
Gràcia and the Eixample hold the best, with Paral·lelo, DelaCrem, Cremeria Toscana and Bodevici. In the Gòtic and the Born there are Gelaaati di Marco and Gocce di Latte. These are neighbourhood areas where locals buy, not just tourists, unlike the stalls on La Rambla.
Where can you find vegan or gluten-free ice cream in Barcelona
At many artisan shops. DelaCrem makes all its ice creams gluten-free and its sorbets fully vegan, Bodevici is certified organic with vegan and sugar-free options, and at nearly all of them fruit sorbets are vegan by nature. Just ask for the seasonal menu.
